Mary Lee Bendolph’s extraordinary talent first garnered national attention when her work was featured among that of other quiltmakers from Gee’s Bend, Alabama, in the 2002 blockbuster exhibition and book The Quilts of Gee’s Bend. Hailed by the New York Times as “some of the most miraculous works of modern art America has produced,” the abstract quilts from this tiny, isolated African American community prompted a rethinking of commonly accepted artistic categories.

Tradition/Innovation focuses national attention on the creative contributions of master craftspeople and traditional artists in the South.

On a Mission represents the first-ever display of the more than 20 works acquired for KMA by the museum’s Collectors Circle.

Josh Simpson: A Visionary Journey in Glass follows the career arc of this self-taught master from his early traditional pieces to the spectacular tour-de-force multi-layered works of the present.

Drawn from the rich archive at the John Kobal Foundation in London, this exhibition focuses on the stars, the sets, and the scenes created by the film industry and memorialized by the most important photographers who worked in Hollywood from 1920 to 1960.

This exhibition celebrates the surprising variety and rich talents of the finest furniture makers currently residing in Middle and East Tennessee.

Contemporary Focus is a new KMA series that serves as a vital means of recognizing, supporting and documenting the development of contemporary art in East Tennessee. Each year, we will feature three emerging artists who work in new and experimental ways.

Anton Vidokle is one of many artists who recognize the educational potential of art, but his productions usually do not manifest themselves in the form of traditional art objects. In the place of sculpture or painting, Vidokle creates work in the shape of social forms familiar to us – such as libraries, schools, and public conversations.